When dyeing cationic dyeable yarns to medium and dark shades with acid and/or premetalized acid dyes on a continuous dye range, the dyed product in some instances may exhibit some dye bleed when products containing the dyed yarn are subjected to subsequent wet conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,417 and 5,417,724 to Pacifici describe methods for reducing cold water bleed using a composition that inhibits water bleeding by treating the dyed yarn with a combination of a cationic sulfonated cotton fixing agent and an anionic polyamine nylon fixing agent.
Dyed textiles sometimes are apt to transfer dye from fiber to fiber, yarn to yarn, and fabric to fabric when they are in contact with each other under aqueous conditions. Colorfastness is measured by the dyed textile""s resistance to color loss in an aqueous environment and is referred to as cold water bleed. Various fixing agents have been proposed and are generally targeted or prepared for a specific fiber type. Nylon fixing agents are used to treat nylon textiles dyed with acid dyes while cotton fixing agents are used to treat cellulosic fibers dyed with reactive, direct or vat dyes.
Schwindt et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,869, describes a printing paste for polyamide carpets or the like containing an acrylic acid polymer or copolymer which may also contain an amine compound.
von der Eltz et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,764, describes a process for dyeing polyamide fibers with a binder system combining acrylic acid derivatives with an amine compound such as melamine formaldehyde.
Annen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,328, aftertreats various textile materials including blends of polyamide and cotton with a cationic material that may be an amide or an amine in the presence of a novolak or similar product and a compound containing a carboxylic acid. This patent does not specifically identify the use of acrylic acid or an acrylic acid derivative.
Kelley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,914, describes a multicolored dyeing process for polyamide carpets where acrylic acid polymers and copolymers mixed with sulfonated phenol-aldehyde condensation products are used to prepare an anionic resist which is applied as a print paste, followed by heat fixing.
Japanese Patent Abstract JA-7337069 of 1969 describes a dyeing process for polyamide and other fibers containing an alkyl amine, an aromatic amine and formaldehyde with an emulsion polymer of an acrylic acid ester.
Japanese Patent Abstract JP 1061-584 (1987) treats a dyed polyamide fiber with a copper chloride of methacrylic acid and a polyamine softening agent.